Friday, November 30, 2007

The man in this video, Jeff Gertsmann, was fired because of the negative tone of this review. At the time Gamespot was heavily promotingKane and Lynch and apparently the game's developers did not take kindly to Gertsmann's review. They pulled advertising dollars and Gamespot's bosses decided to fire Mr. Gertsmann. I'm sure every gamer has at least suspected that some game companies bribe reviewers for good reviews. It would seem there is some truth in this conspiracy. Next thing you'll be telling me is Bigfoot is real.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Via IGN.
I've never heard of Camila Sodi before so I can't really pass judgement on this casting decision. It's not like they were going to find an actress with naturally green hair. Although one wonders what color her hair will be in the movie. It doesn't hurt that she's easy on the eyes, which is my awkward antiquated way of saying she's attractive. As of right now this latest bit of news doesn't bother me.
Neither does James Marsters as Piccolo for that matter. Granted they could cast him as Oolong and I would think it was awesome. For what it's worth I think he'll be fine as Piccolo. Chatwin as Goku is more troubling. I hope the studio knows that Goku is a jovial, simple minded but light hearted individual. He's not some conflicted mopey white boy. Interestingly Cinema Blend has character details for Chi-Chi, whom is described as Asian. So I guess it's okay to cast non-whites just as long as they're not the main character.
It's just baffling to me that this movie is actually being made. The live action adaptations of Akira, Astro Boy, Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, and Blood The Last Vampire are all stuck in development hell and Dragonball get fast tracked for this August? I should mention that Speed Racer will beat Dragonball to theatres by three months. You can't expect to beat Speed Racer though. He's a demon on wheels.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Well someone watched Batman and saw the Joker riding in a parade throwing money and thought "Hey wouldn't that be great for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade?" You know what the Joker didn't do in the movie? Sing and do impressions on the scale of a Las Vegas lounge act.
I like how they made you guess who the actor was playing Joker. Of course it was Fred Travalena! Who else would you expect?
It's a shame those parade balloons weren't leaking Smilex gas.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

I got the Castlevania figures in yesterday. I've been looking forward to these since they were first announced, and my anticipation manifested itself in interesting ways. I bought Alucard and the Succubus. Also in this series are Simon Belmont and Dracula, the latter I would have purchased if his face didn't look like he just took a stake to the groin. Although I've read a rumour that there's a closed mouth variant, so I might have to track that down now.
The Succubus isn't as pale as the prototype and has a more natural looking skin tone. This isn't really an issue for me but it's worth pointing out. The other thing is her wings are slightly translucent which I wasn't expecting so that's a nice surprise. My only slight quibble is that her head is set lower on her body than the prototype, obscuring the choker she wears on her neck.
Alucard pretty much looks exactly like the prototype. It has elbow articulation which I had never noticed before in the prototype shots. I have to hand it to NECA for trying to improve itself instead of becoming another McFarlane. Unfortunately my photographs don't really do Alucard justice. His skin tone looks darker than it really is and, maybe because of the angle of the shots, his nostrils look flared. I assure you that in person he looks like his lovely bishounen self.
Overall I'm very pleased with these. They might be my favourite figures of the year if for no other reason other than I've wanted Castlevania action figures for so long. I'm really hoping NECA announce a second series.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Man last night's episode of The Simpsons was a surreal experience. I can't believe they told so many jokes that only comic fans would get; from the idea that an indie artist secretly wants to draw Batman to Alan Moore being pissed off at movies being based on his comics. I would totally watch Watchmen Babies in V for Vacation. Look at that adorable little Rorsarch. The baby Doctor Manhattan however looks terrifying. Alan Moore, by the way, sounds as gruff as he always looked.
In the episode Jack Black plays a hipster store owner (whose girlfriend has a lunchbox for a purse - priceless) who opens up a comics shop across the street from Jeff Albertson's infamous Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop and wackiness ensues. Earlier in the episode Jack Black sings "What's New Pussycat" in Korean, which apparently translates to "Annyong Pussycat". Annyong. Unfortunately this clip skips to the credits right before Lisa reads some Tin Tin comics. This is the probably the first time Tin Tin has been mentioned on U.S. television since I guess when they took his show off Nickelodeon. You know I watched that show.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

According to this report, Fox is preparing to produce Family Guy episodes without Seth MacFarlane. MacFarlane is currently on strike with the WGA and Fox is not going to wait for him to return to work. They're going to complete the episodes that were already in production before MacFarlane left. After that, who knows? They have the right to create episodes without any of MacFarlane's involvement. Besides being the show runner MacFarlane voices a sizeable number of characters on the show including
Peter, Brian, Stewie, Quagmire, Tom Tucker, and Mr. Pewterschmidt. He would have to be recast, presumably by more than one actor. This could ruin the show forever, like when Jim Henson died.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

As promised, here are more pics of the Spider-Man 3 DVDs. First up is the Target 3-Disc Deluxe Edition.
It includes the 2-Disc Special Edition, a booklet of production notes, and a bonus disc in a plastic sleeve. It all comes in an oversized slipcover with the same artwork as a billboard I've been considering stealing. What? It's cool artwork. And it's not like I'm actually stealing a billboard. That'd be insane. I'd just be stealing the vinyl sheet that's affixed to the billboard.
This is the Spider-Man 3 Wal-Mart Exclusive Pack. In typical Wal-Mart fashion it's two DVDs shrink wrapped side by side.
It comes with the single disc Spider-Man 3 DVD with a lenticular slipcover (which I demonstrated last time), Spider-Man 3 The Black comic book, and a bonus disc. The comic is written by Brian Bendis and drawn by Mark Bagley, the former creative team of Ultimate Spider-Man, and also features character bios.
A comparison pic of the Spider-Man 3 Production Notes and Spider-Man 3 The Black comic book.
A comparison pic of the Spider-Man 3 Bonus DVD and The Villains of Spider-Man 3 Collector's Bonus Disc.
I'm just like the kid in Amazing Spider-Man #248 except I'm not dying. Yet. Here's the collection:

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Yes I know taking comic panels out of context is the biggest cliche in the blogosphere. And yes I know "blogosphere" is an awful word. Still I felt these comic panels were endearingly horrific. That boy is totally going to kill his sister.
I excised the final panel from both strips so you can focus on the violence and not the punchline. You can see the full comic strips here and here, but I'd advise against it though. It's better simply to bask in these brutal examples of child on child abuse.

Friday, November 9, 2007

This commercial is lies. The Joker's face change was not that immediate. It took a few minutes. And after a few years his face turned into an off-color white. Or maybe it was always an off-color white and my memory is failing me.
I also had that Joker cycle. Joker drives a motorcycle with a giant effigy of his face emblazoned on the front. Plus the face shoots off as a weapon. For any other human being it would ridiculous but for the Joker it makes perfect sense. Although, in the movie Joker has his own cars, vans, and parade floats but not a motorcycle. Strange. That jet looks nothing like Batwing either. Does this mean the toy company was lazy or trying to be more creative?
You know, I have no idea what happened to that Joker cycle, and I'm pretty good at keeping track of my toys, even when I was a child. I would sure love to sit down with those toys again and enjoy a big bowl of cereal.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

After a few years of dragging behind Marvel, DC has started fast tracking more of their properties into films. Both The Flash and Green Lantern have new directors. And after years of being rumored as the title role for the Captain Marvel movie, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been cast as the villain Black Adam. He's a great fit for Black Adam but now one wonders who'll play Captain Marvel himself.
Meanwhile Wonder Woman is on hold again. Then there's that quasi-CGI Justice League movie which I'm not really looking forward to. The Flash and Green Lantern are supposed to tie into the Justice League. All that means is the same actors will play the same characters in the movies, as opposed to Superman and Batman who won't be played by Brandon Routh and Christian Bale. But uh, hey The Rock is Black Adam. That's something to be pleased about.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Fox is releasing "Blue Harvest", Family Guy's Star Wars spoof on DVD. This set is really elaborate for a single episode. It's pricey too at $35 for the gift set and $23 for the standard edition. Granted it's a double length episode but that's still only about forty minutes. Still you'll have to buy it if you want to own the episode. Considering what happened with the Stewie "movie", it's a safe bet that this episode won't be included in the season sets. It is a neat set though. I especially like the old school style trading cards. Knowing Family Guy there's a C3-P0 joke to be made there, so it makes sense that Quagmire is the Threepio analogue. Giggity giggity goo!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

It's official. Kadokawa's Lucky Star will be brought over to the U.S. in 2008 by Bandai Entertainment. They cleverly annonced it by including a trailer on the last Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya DVD. As you can see rather than it being a standard trailer it's a full scene straight from the series. It's not just any scene either, it's a Haruhi Suzumiya parody for maximum crossover potential. In the clip the Lucky Star gals head to a cafe where Konata, their otaku friend, works as a Haruhi cosplayer and impersonator. Nice job Bandai.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Devil May Cry 4 will be released on February 8th 2008. A collector's edition will be available which will include a bonus disc and the first volume of the Devil May Cry anime series in a steelbook case. I so want this. A video game and an anime DVD together in a steelbook case? That's an obvious purchase. Heck I'd buy the empty steelbook. I don't care if I have to play Nero instead of Dante. You know they're essentially going to be the same character anyways. I already have the first and third Devil May Cry games, so this will almost complete the quadrilogy. Trouble is, I don't have an X-Box 360 or a PlayStation 3. But would that stop me?

Bigfoot is real. Well we all knew that already, didn't we? Sadly there are those close-minded individuals who will not let the great Sasquatch into their hearts. Yet there is now indisputable proof of Bigfoot's existence in the picture above. You can see him there in the forest majestically looking for his lost contact lens. It is truly a wondrous sight. Of course there's also the theory it is merely a picture of a mangy bear:
Anorexia; not just an affliction of young starlets.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

I may not have gone trick or treating but I received a lot of treats this past week. (And I still ate a lot of my sisters' candy.) As you can see I double dipped on Spider-Man 3. I told you I would.
I'll be posting more about the Spidey DVDs in a later post, but for now behold the magic of the lenticular cover. Infernal flash notwithstanding.
I also got in the fourth and final limited edition volume of the beloved high school club meta comedy The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I'm always glad to complete another anime series. Tsuruya makes the cover this time. She's not a member of the SOS Brigrade, but she's a cute girl and therefore more marketable than Kyon and Itsuki. Here are pictures of the LE packaging, the DVD cases, and the music CDs, iron-ons, pencil boards and other miscellaneous goodies included.
Finally I got a Hasbro Marvel Legends Marvel Girl action figure. Part of me wants a figure of Rachel Summers here in her Excalibur costume but her modern outfit is still nice. It's not so much a superhero costume as it is what a real person might wear. She's also my first figure of a female X-Men member. I want that damn Kitty Pryde figure more than ever. On the back of the packaging you can see the other figures available. and the Brood Queen, which can be assembled after purchasing all the figures in the series. I'll have to make do with just the Brood Queen's torso.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Effective midnight tonight the Writer's Guild of America will go on strike. This will have an immediate impact on shows that air on a daily or weekly basis like talk shows. In fact the strike seems to be timed to allow one last episode of SNL tonight. Sitcom and dramas will have a few more episodes in the can but certainly not enough to sustain the season. If the strike goes on long expect a lot of repeats. Not to mention more game shows and reality shows, which of course do use writers but they get away with it by calling what they do something else.
The strike will have less impact on movies but don't buy into the story that it will have no impact at all. The studios' 2008 schedule may already be far along but their 2009 schedule can still be futzed with. Case in point the Transformers sequel may not make its intended release date. I don't have a problem with this. It would have been worse to get a rushed script than a late one. Unfortunately the G.I. Joe movie seems to be coming along just fine. No amount of time can save that trainwreck.
Still if you need a Transformers fix in the near future you can always tune in to the upcoming new animated series on Cartoon Network. It's the cartooniest take on the Autobots and the Decepticons yet and is appropriately titled Transformers Animated.
And with the debut of new Transformers media, you know the toys aren't far behind.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Eight years ago (I feel old) a smattering of people got upset over a movie that dealt with religious matters in a non-conventional way. These people held a protest. A certain individual who joined them in their protest actually had a strong connection to said movie. Here is the story behind the whole situation:

Thursday, November 1, 2007

McDonalds of Japan will have sixty-six different Keroro Gunso (a.k.a. Sergeant Frog) keychains available in their Happy Meals. I am insanely jealous.
There will be several different versions of Keroro (pictured above), Giroro, Tamama, Kururu, and Dororo. You can collect the crew as business men, soccer players, unicycle riders and McDonald's employees. Assuming you live in Japan anyways.
I can take some solace in that ADV has finally solicited the first DVD volume after about a year. I'd rather have a keychain and McNuggets.
Meanwhile in the world of Dragonball Z, Atari has lost the video game license while Bandai America has acquired the action figure license. I just thought it was neat that these two news items happened at around the same time. Eh, I guess in the near future I'll be buying some action figures but not some video games.

Welcome to the Suck

This blog functions as an implement for which pitiful peons such as yourself may come to view my mighty fist full of suck. This assumes of course that suck is a tangible quantity that could be held in one's fist.Also I write about random stuff and comment on things I'm interested in and junk.